


Costs of Civil Disobedience

by pennysparrow, WritingToKeepMySanity



Series: From Across the Bar [2]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Politics, Crossover, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Modern Era, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 06:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17802773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity
Summary: Davey goes full mama bear after some of his student are hurt, Enjolras reacts as is expected.





	Costs of Civil Disobedience

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: completely self-indulgent and fun to write. also some strong language.

The door to Medda’s opened sharply with a  _ bang! _ causing the patrons around the entrance to jump as Davey stormed in, making a beeline for the bar. 

Katherine flinched involuntarily as he approached, breathing hard like he’d run the whole way from his apartment on the Upper East Side. She’d only seen him looking this pissed once… god, six years ago? Some confrontation with his landlord’s nephews that ended with a broken arm for Les and split knuckles and a dislocated shoulder for Sarah.

She never learned the full story and she knew better than to ask.

“Where are they?” Davey ground out, eyes flashing.

“Uhm.” Katherine shot Jack a look, silently asking if he understood any better. But Jack looked just as lost. “Jack’s here, Charlie’s in the bathroom, and Sarah’s at work, who--?”

“No, those… righteous, self-servin’,  _ fuckin’  _ grad students,” Davey seethed. “The ones always handn’ out fliers an’, an’ holdin’ private parties for their rallies.  _ Where are they _ ?”

Almost like she was afraid to actually speak to him--which she was, a little, is she was honest, and what world were they living in if she was scared of  _ David Jacobs _ ?--Katherine simply pointed towards the back corner booth where the group of college grads normally sat when they got there early enough.

Without another word, Davey turned on his heel and stalked to the back.

The second he was out of earshot, Race was pulling out his wallet. “Five to one, Davey draws blood,” he said, eyes glinting mischievously.

Katherine shook her head slowly. “I don’t think this is something to joke about, Tony…”

They watched as Davey approached the sole customer at the back booth and yanked the textbook from his hands.

“Oh, my god,” Katherine said faintly. “Get Spot. Just in case.” Davey was getting impulsive and the last time he was picking fights like this was the tailend of his bender and Spot had to throw him out.

This looked like it could turn ugly.

 

~

 

Someone flipped his textbook closed with a dull thud. Enjolras jerked his head up, a half formed threat on his lips as he expected to meet the smirk of one of his friends. Instead, one of the bar’s other regulars stood across the table from him and the man seemed to be seething. 

Enjolras knew he was friends with the owner and the staff though he couldn’t recall the man’s name. That was due to shock more than inebriation because while he spent much of his freetime in a bar, Enjolras rarely drank. And especially not when he was preparing to lead a morning workshop for his undergrads like he was tonight.

He was expecting for the other man to speak, he had been the one to interrupt, but when he didn’t Enjolras took charge. “Can I help you?”

Davey didn’t mince words. “What the  _ hell _ is your problem?”

“Right now?” Enjolras drawled. “Mostly that you lost my place. I was trying to annotate that, I’m supposed to be spending an hour with about twenty over stressed and under caffeinated wannabe lawyers talking about Alexis de Tocqueville tomorrow. And while that does sound normal for me this particular group I’m to be grading and doesn’t meet up in a bar.”

Barely listening, Davey dragged the textbook further away from the guy when he tried to reach for it. “Cut the  _ shit _ ,” he growled and, faintly, he was reminded of being fourteen, fifteen years old, sitting in the bathroom with a bar of soap in his mouth, because  _ yes _ , his mother still insisted upon that, no matter how old her children were.

But he was too mad to care. “Were you, or were you not, in charge of the anti-wall rally on Saturday?”

Enjolras blinked in surprise. He hadn’t been sure where this conversation was going but this definitely wasn’t in the top ten possible topics. Or even on his list. “I was. Why do you ask?” Suddenly defensive, Enjolras straightened in the booth. “You don’t actually believe that building the damn thing is anything but racist horseshit?”

Davey’d been on the debate team in high school, he could argue with a wall--no pun intended--but he was  _ not _ getting sucked into this. Not now. “The topic’s not important. Did you or did you not  _ also  _ recruit high schoolers from Park East High School?”

Enjolras frowned. “I don’t recall… Gavroche invited some friends of his, I don’t know what school he’s at right now.” Enjolras winced, between the kid’s behavioral record and the mess that had been Eponine getting custody from their parents he was on his fifth school in almost as many months. Hopefully it would last him.

“Let me save you the trouble,” Davey said. He briefly considered sitting across from--shit, his argument might be better if he knew who he was fighting but it was too late now--the blonde, but right now he liked that he had the height advantage on him. “Three students in my AP Government class came in this morning. Between them, they had two black eyes, a sprained ankle and all three had bruises and chafing on their wrists. From  _ handcuffs _ .”

Enjolras blanched. The rally had gotten a bit out of hand but it hadn’t been their fault. The cops had provoked Bahorel who really was acting in self-defense when he swung that punch and well… Enjolras had been trying to get the police to back off and see sense while Combeferre and Courfeyrac took charge of clearing out the rest of the protestors. He had been positive that the only ones who had ended up hurt or arrested (or both in Bossuet’s case) had been members of the ABC. There certainly hadn’t been any high schoolers in that.

“I can assure you I would never allow such things to happen to anyone but ourselves. And besides, we were the only ones left by the time the police decided they’d had enough,” Enjolras felt his lip pull back in annoyance at the memory.

“Oh really? Then how do you explain it?” Davey felt his hackles rise. Not only did this man allow his students to be in harm’s way, but now he was calling him a  _ liar _ ?

Enjolras met the other man’s fire with his own. “If they were hurt then they did not heed my warnings or thought themselves capable. I’m not their father and I think it is unwise not to trust in the next generation. Gavroche has proven to me time and again that just because one is deemed a child in the eyes of the law does not make them apathetic to the world around them or incapable of acting in their own interest and the interest of others. They must have known the risks and deemed them worthy. While I do deeply regret their injuries, and had I not been engaged with attempting to de-escalate the situation I might have noticed them and attempted to persuaded them to leave. As it is, they made their choice and I must respect that and them for their courage.”

Davey pinched the bridge of his nose. Hand to God, he was going to hit this guy if he didn’t  _ shut up _ . “They’re fifteen,” he said lowly, becoming eerily calm, even to himself. “They’re children and they want to be seen as older. I don’t mind them taking an interest in politics and current events--hell, it’s my job to give them some reason to be interested in it--but when they get hurt, when they’re thrown in harm’s way, it becomes my business. And for you to be so-- _ flippant _ \--about them being hurt--”

“They were aware of what they were getting into--” Enjolras tried to protest. It’s not like they hadn’t warned everyone before hand. Feuilly and Courfeyrac had even given a mini lesson on Miranda Rights and First Amendment protections of assembly so that the crowd was prepared. And when things started to look bad Enjolras himself had started sending people home. Urging them to leave. He couldn’t possibly be blamed for the actions a couple teenagers had done completely of their own free will.

“They’re not your  _ soldiers _ . They’re kids, and they’re too young to know what handcuffs feel like. To know what being arrested is like. Or even detained. They’re bright kids, sure they knew what they were getting into, but they’re still kids. And you don’t have to see them every day, how scared they looked when they came into class on this morning--” Davey cut himself off, scrubbing a hand down his face.

If he was honest, it was more about how scared  _ he’d _ been. Brandon and Nikki and Jess were fine, really, just a little shaken up, but seeing his kids like that…

God, he had turned into one of those teachers, hadn’t he?

A movement out of the corner of his eye caused Davey to turn and see Spot, arms folded across his chest. “What--?”

“Kath said it was gettin’ too heated over here, so I should make sure ya didn’t kill each other,” he said gruffly, narrowing his eyes at the man still seated at the booth.

“Sorry,” Enjolras said to the bartender, the short grumpy guy who looked like he could beat even Bahorel in an arm wrestling contest with the way his biceps bulged when he crossed his arms. “We were just having a bit of a discussion. Though it’s ending.”

Enjolras stared at the man still standing across the table from him, looking like he’d run the course of his anger for the most part by now. Enjolras wasn’t sure if what he was going to say next would wind him up again or deflate him completely. Regardless, he was mad at being lectured and upset over the news and had a spiteful streak that was a lot harder to keep in check with Combeferre still at his residency and Courfeyrac having gotten lost between here and the bathroom.

Besides, having this man -- someone he’d become familiar enough with to give a little nod of acknowledgment whenever they noticed the other in the crowded and chaotic bar -- berate him about the injuries his students detained? It made him sick. Not just because this man seemed to think Enjolras was the one responsible and deserving of his ire, but because it meant that there were three kids out there who had gotten hurt and Enjolras didn’t know, had done nothing to try and help them. The riot that the rally turned into had never been his goal but collateral damage was to be expected. It didn’t mean that Enjolras wasn’t upset by the fact these three teenagers were a part of it. He just did a poor job of showing it.

“Just answer me this,” Enjolras said. “What were you like as a teenager? Did you want to try and make even a miniscule difference in the world? Did you want to try and fight for your friends? Your family? Because I’ll admit I didn’t have the cleanest record going into college but I did have a clear conscious.”

Davey barked out a sharp, slightly hysterical laugh, causing Spot to side-eye him warily. “Nazis marching in Charlotte and you’re asking the Jewish kid if he ever wanted to protect his family? Of course I did. But I knew when to step back and regroup when it was needed. Throwing yourself in headfirst doesn’t do any good if you don’t know how to get your head back on straight.”

Enjolras blanched but recovered quickly. “I agree, but sometimes the only way to learn how to do that is in the moment. I’m not saying they were right, I’m just saying it’s wrong of you to take your anger out on me when we should both be looking at the police who are obviously responsible for the brutality in the first place.”

Narrowing his eyes at--wow, he should really have learned his name by now--Davey let out a long, slow breath through his nose. He had to admit, the man made some good points, but he wasn’t ready to let him off the hook completely just yet. Nikki was out for the rest of the volleyball season, something she’d mournfully informed Davey that morning, and all three were terrified of what this might mean for their future.

The man wasn’t getting off so easily, but maybe he could be a tad more civil to him.

“Spot,” he said, calmly. “I think I’d like to buy this man a drink. We’re not done talking yet.” He stuck out his hand. “David.”

Enjolras felt his lips pulling up into a satisfied smile. He clasped David’s hand and they shook. “Enjolras. I’ll take a coffee please, extra sugar and cream.”

**Author's Note:**

> Red here! Enj is getting his doctorate in political theory and is TA for an intro political ideologies class and as a poli sci major who ISN'T pre-law I can confirm that the rest of the major is just wannabe lawyers. So yeah.
> 
> I am neither a poli-sci major or pre-law but Mama Bear Davey’s fun, yes?? XD Comments give us life and possibly more incentive to collaborate again!! let us know what you think!! —Disney
> 
> xx


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